Follow Us:

Contrary to his public claims, Gov. Eliot Spitzer was deeply involved with the release of travel records on Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, Albany County District Attorney David Soares is said to have found in a soon-to-be-released report. Also, from over the weekend, some staffers recall a sometimes enraged Spitzer in his final months.

Republican political operative Roger Stone told the FBI in November that Spitzer was using the services of high-priced call girls in Florida.

As lieutenant governor, David Paterson stayed at downtown hotels 13 times over the last year or so, even though his upstate home is a short hop away in Guilderland. A spokesman says he was busy.

If you missed it over the weekend, we dropped in on a fully staffed youth facility with just two residents, one of several in the state with few, if any, kids. The administration proposes closing them; the Senate wants to keep the upstate centers open.

Parole officials say none of the 456 violent felons paroled in the last four years was sent back to prison for committing a new crime.

Gov. George Pataki is having his official portrait done, the first since Hugh Carey. And if you’re wondering, there’s nothing to stop Spitzer from having his hung in the hall of govenrors, too. Also in today’s column, the short list for the downstate economic development czar.

In Decision ’08 news:

The latest battle in the Democratic primary seems to be over who’s more negative. Supporters of both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama fault an Obama ally who compared remarks by President Clinton to McCarthyism.

Newly released papers on her days as First Lady show Clinton met with a generous Indonesian businessman who would later benefit from her husband’s lifting of the trade embargo with Vietnam.

The Democratic battle is giving John McCain time to build his image, and move up in the polls.

Clinton and Obama aren’t above embellishing their records as senators.

Democrats may take heart from history, which suggests that the party looking to retake the White House in a recession has the advantage.

McCain supported a tax bill favored by the telecommunications industry in 2003; a look at his backers shows a lot of lobbyists, particularly from the telecom sector.

About Capitol Confidential

Capitol Confidential gathers the best coverage of New York politics and puts it all together. Each section - Capitol, The State Worker, New York on the Potomac, and Voices - represents a unique facet of the political scene. The Capitol section features coverage from the Times Union Capitol bureau. The State Worker is dedicated to state worker issues. New York on the Potomac offers news of interest to New Yorkers from Washington. And Voices features the best of everything else, pointing you to columnists and bloggers from across the Web.